A lawsuit by actress Julia Ormond accusing talent agency CAA of ignoring Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior has unleashed a verbal slugfest between Hollywood heavyweights Bryan Lourd and Ari Emanuel.
The gloves aren’t just off—they’ve been shredded.
Emanuel, the CEO of the Endeavor agency, has likened Lourd, who runs CAA, to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Lourd, in turn, has lambasted Emanuel as “erratic” and “self-serving.”
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It all unfolded at separate sessions during Bloomberg’s Screentime conference a week after Ormond filed her blockbuster suit alleging that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex after a 1995 meeting encouraged by CAA.
She claims that Lourd and his co-chair Kevin Huvane discouraged her from going to the police and suggested that a lawsuit against Weinstein could backfire—charges the agency denies.
On Wednesday, Emanuel slammed Lourd and Huvane in the harshest terms.
“Seven different agents knew about different incidents with women. When they took over, they decided that ‘We’re going to look the other way,’” Emanuel alleged.
Even more shockingly, he said the pair operated like Jeffrey Epstein’s procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, and were “leading [victims] to this man.” He called for them to take a leave of absence while CAA brings in an outside investigator.
“From my perspective, it’s horrific,” he said.
On Thursday, it was Lourd’s turn and he did not hold back.
“Look, we all know Ari Emanuel to be an incredibly performative, erratic, and, in my mind, always self-serving human, I think, much to the detriment of not just his colleagues, but his clients—the few that he’s got left—and, more importantly, his investors,” he told the conference.
“The idea that he in any way could think that he could hold himself out as morally superior to anyone—but specifically around challenges to women—is odd.
“It’s ironic that the companies he’s led his group into and the men he’s partnered with and defends... maybe they’re his advisers on women’s issues.”
He said Ormond’s accusations are false but that CAA will address them in court.
“These are very serious issues. They’re not meant for any hypocritical soundbites, so you’re not going to get any from me,” he added.
